Ecuador: State of emergency declared to halt protests

The magnificent
revolutionary movement in Ecuador has risen once again forcing the
government to declare a state of emergency in four main provinces.
What we are witnessing is the early beginnings of a movement that
could develop towards a new insurrection.

The past three weeks have
left their mark on Ecuadorian society. The magnificent revolutionary
movement has risen once again forcing the government to declare a
state of emergency in four main provinces. The armed forces have been
given permission to use “extraordinary” measures to bring the
situation under control. What we are witnessing is the early
beginnings of a movement that could develop towards a new
insurrection.

The immediate cause of
this recent wave of mass protests were the declarations of the
president of Ecuador, Alfredo Palacio, who has stated that he wants
to sign the TLC (FTA), a free-trade agreement that US imperialism is
trying to impose on the Latin American countries. The TLC is a
free-trade agreement that will give even more freedom to
US-multinationals to operate in Ecuador. It will give them wide
access to the rich resources of the country and make it possible for
them to make millions of dollars, for example from the big
oil-reserves.

As we explained in a
previously published article (see
Ecuador: New explosions are being prepared), the continued presence in the country of
the US oil company OXY, is a source of anger and frustration for the
oppressed masses of Ecuadorian workers, urban poor, indigenous people
and youth. While social spending is being cut this multinational is
allowed to continue its business in Ecuador, in spite of clear
evidence that it is violating its contract with the state. If the TLC
is applied in Ecuador it will open the gates for more such companies
and it will mean complete bankruptcy for many small peasants and
small-scale producers, as US-based producers of agricultural goods
will be free to export whatever they want to Ecuador.

The recent protests began
on March 8, international working women’s day, where a national
mobilization and a 24-hour general strike was called by various
trade-union confederations with the backing of social movements and
the secondary school students of the capital. In Quito several
important roads were blocked by protesters and the main squares
became the scene of mass demonstrations that were violently broken up
by the police firing tear-gas.

In a number of
provinces cases of rioting were also registered, most significant
being in the Eastern part of the country where the workers of the oil
plants followed suit and brought the installations to a halt in
Shushufindi, Libertador, Lago Agrio, Sacha,
Auca, and the Amazonian district. These workers are demanding payment
of their wages that sub-contracting companies have been holding back
for some time, in some cases even up to four months.

But the actions of
March 8 were just a warm-up to the recent wave of protests that
started on March 13 with a number of local risings across the whole
country. Associated Press affirmed that,
“Several thousand Indians started blockading roads with burning
tires, rocks and tree trunks on March 13, tying up traffic and
halting commerce across Ecuador's highlands and much of the eastern
jungle.”

The movement spread
rapidly and was effectively lead by CONAIE (The Confederation
of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) that organized a march on the
capital. The indigenous minority, numbering around 30% of the
population, is an extremely exploited layer and has therefore been in
the vanguard of the revolutionary movement over and over and again.
This time it had the firm support of the majority of the masses,
especially the students that clashed with the police on a daily basis
in Quito.

The declared aim of the
movement was to stop the TLC negotiations and call for a national
referendum to decide on the issue. Palacio rejected any kind of
concessions and declared a state of emergency in four Ecuadorian
provinces on Tuesday, March 21, giving permission to the military to
use special measures to get the situation under control. In a joint
statement issued last Thursday, the indigenous organizations CONAIE
and ECUARONARI, explained how the military have been ordered to track
down the leaders of the movement, enter their homes if necessary,
beat them up and take them to the Riobamba prison.

It is not totally clear
what will happen next. Obviously the ferocious repression has had an
effect on the movement. The vice-president of CONAIE, Santiago de la
Cruz, stated that it is necessary to make a “strategic retreat”
in order to discuss thoroughly in the local indigenous communities a
plan of action “with much greater radicalism”. The idea is to
organise mass assemblies in every region leading up to a national
assembly next week. The situation is still very open and can produce
all kinds of results.

In a desperate
attempt to distract the attention of the masses, officials of the
Ecuadorian government have accused Hugo Chavez of being behind the
popular protests. That the riots could in any way be financed by
Chavez is clearly false and it is merely one of the many dirty tricks
being employed to side-track the real issues at stake. Chavez himself
responded that: “It is not the Venezuelan government that
is stirring up protests... it is the conscience of peoples that have
decided to live and be free.”

Reactionaries always push
the line that strikes are started because a small minority of
energetic agitators are “provoking” action. In the same way,
these people think that Chavez is an agitator that can “manipulate”
the masses into action. Clearly the masses of Ecuador, as in every
other country in Latin America, look to the Venezuelan revolution as
a great example. But it is not simply the events in Venezuela that
are the causes of these risings. On the contrary, it is the result of
a number of contradictions that have accumulated within Ecuador over
a long period.

In fact, the TLC is simply
the last straw that broke the camel's back. What many people do not
understand is, that it is not this or that reform, but the very
existence of capitalism that hinders a harmonious development of the
countries in Latin America. The ruling classes of the continent came
onto the scene of history at a relatively late stage and were thus
organically linked to the interests of imperialism. At the decisive
moments they have always sided with imperialism against the movement
for national independence. The history of Ecuador is in itself a very
good testimony to that.

So long as capitalism
survives, so long as the present ruling class remains in power and
holds the key economic levers there will be no lasting solution to
the problems faced by the Ecuadorian masses. The acceptance of the
TLC merely reflects the position of the local oligarchy. It is a
pliant tool in the hands of US imperialism in particular. It is
correct to oppose the TLC, but it is necessary to go beyond this.

What is necessary is not
only to reject the TLC, but also to build an alternative that can
effectively sweep away and replace the discredited bourgeois
parliament. This can only come about if the organizations of the
working class, the indigenous minority and the peasantry take
decisive steps to organize a new insurrection, a revolution that will
eliminate the capitalist mode of production and create the conditions
for a socialist society.